The scandalous Hamiltons

If legal-thriller star John Grisham thought up the story of Robert Ray Hamilton and Eva Steele one morning, by lunch he would have abandoned the idea as too far-fetched. Yet historian Shaffer shows that these seemingly implausible events not only happened in the late-nineteenth-century, they played out for millions, thanks to the telegraph and the nearly 16,000 newspapers in existence at the time. Ray, great grandson of Alexander Hamilton, and Eva, from a poor background in rural Pennsylvania, met in a Manhattan "bawdy house." Eva became Ray's mistress; four years later, they were married by a minister whose last name was, ironically, Burr. Eva and Ray's marriage fell apart over a concealed marriage, skulduggery involving a baby girl Eva said was Ray's daughter, a stabbing, and a final bizarre twist. Shaffer has an appealing writing style and a talent for sneaking up on the reader with each big reveal. Though it can feel as though Ray and Eva don't warrant book-length treatment, this concern is mitigated by the rich period detail Shaffer provides as context for their "scandalous" story.

Design historian Shaffer (George Nelson and the Design of Time) gives a detailed account of the scandal surrounding Robert Ray Hamilton (1851--1890), great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton, and his secret marriage to a prostitute and attempted murderer. After serving four years in the New York State Assembly, Hamilton's life took a dramatic turn in 1889, when he secretly married Evangeline Steele, a former prostitute with whom he'd had a years-long affair. The impetus for the marriage was the birth of their daughter, Beatrice--or so Hamilton thought. In reality, Evangeline, aided by her common-law husband, Joshua Mann, had purchased an unwanted infant girl from a midwife and passed her off as Hamilton's child in a scheme to get his money. The plot unraveled months later, when Evangeline stabbed the baby's nursemaid in a drunken argument. After a sensational trial and divorce proceedings, which were breathlessly documented by the era's tabloid reporters, including Nellie Bly, Hamilton retreated to the West, where he died under mysterious circumstances in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Shaffer relates these events in a straightforward style that drains the era of some its color, but resists caricature. Historical true crime buffs will be engrossed. (July)